OAKLAND — Crews dismantling the old east span of the Bay Bridge have cut it in half by slicing through metal sections of the cantilever section east of Yerba Buena Island.

Caltrans reports the gap between the two sections isn’t yet wide enough to be easily seen, but it will become more visible in the next few weeks as crews remove more bridge pieces.

Contractors are dismantling the 77-year-old span in reverse order of how it was constructed in the 1930s. Contractors first will take apart the cantilever section and demolish the S-curve near Yerba Buena Island before moving east to take apart two truss spans. Crews will then work downward to remove the piers and foundation. When the demolition is complete, in three to five years, more than 58,000 tons of steel and 245,000 tons of concrete will have been removed.

Caltrans is proposing about $44.4 million in fixes to the Interstate 880 connections along Tennyson Road after several pedestrians and bicyclists have been injured or killed, including Hayward residents Jose Enciso Hernandez and Denesha Turner.